February 15                                                        1 Corinthians 3:  16-23; Mark 2:  13-22

 

 

 

Several years ago, I was attending a potluck dinner on a Sunday evening.  That morning, I had sat in church with all of the other parishioners, listening to the lessons that Jesus has taught us.  That evening, I was in attendance at this diner with my parents and a friend who was an atheist.  A family of four walked unannounced into the fellowship hall.  This should be prefaced by the fact that these people were not of the same social status as the people who had met for dinner.  In fact, the family had been trying to get back home to Kentucky, when their car had begun to have problems.  They had spent all of their money to fix the car and therefore had been unable to rent a hotel room for several days.  The family had not been able to shower or sleep in anything but the clothes that they had on their backs for quite a while.  They walked in disheveled, unclean, tired and truly down trodden.  As good Christians, we offered them supper.  They were brought to a table that sat twelve and then, to my amazement, were left there to eat by themselves.  After all, being willing to share their potluck food was good enough.  Wasn’t it?  Everyone wanted to sit with their friends, and share their meal with people that they usually socialized with.  In the end, I sat

with this family, along with my parents and my atheist friend.  I had a very pleasant evening with this family. 

 

Today’s scripture reading reminds us that money and stature are not what is important, but rather that we are all God’s children.  We are all challenged to sit with those who are disheveled, tired, unclean and down trodden at the Lord’s table, even when it is not convenient.

 

 

 

~ Anna Davis